The New Kid
by Rev Runner
Summary: He was green; he was normal. He was evil; he was crazy. He had a skin condition; but he had normal skin. Fourth Chapter up. ZADF and Membrane OC romance in later chapters. AU
1. Chapter 1: The New Student

It all started when my teacher, Mrs

Author's Note: Please forgive me if almost everyone is out of character. I meant to make it that way. Also, forgive me on my vocabulary as well. Review as soon as you can and you are entitled to offer some constructive criticism and pointers. But please, keep it light. If you also see any unnecessary lines there; please ignore them. I didn't intend to put them there. If there is a way to get rid of them, please inform me as soon as possible.

It was morning. As the sun shone through the window, I felt like it was blinding me completely. As I tossed and turned to gain a few more minutes of rest before school, I heard someone calling me.

"Dib, dad wants you down for breakfast; now!!" The echo from the message that I was receiving from downstairs, was audible.

"Be there in a minute, Gaz," I called back to my baby sister. I hope that she heard me, so I wouldn't have to worry about her storming up the stairs and giving me a beating. Gaz was really violent at times; especially when you don't listen to her. If anyone who would have the nerve to mess with someone that was so short in size, they would regret it for all eternity.

When I was finally downstairs, I saw Dad drinking his coffee and skimming at the newspaper, while Gaz was playing her Game Slave 1.

"Good morning, son. Did you sleep well?" My dad was curious, so he checked to see if I was alright.

"I slept alright, I guess," I smiled at dad. To be honest, though; I didn't get all that much sleep the other night, especially because that today was the first day of skool. No one could fall asleep before their first day begins. It was almost impossible for anyone to get at least one hour. I couldn't complain, though. I was lucky enough to get at least 5 hours of sleep. I was still feeling overly tired, but that was more than what I could say for others. So, from then on I decided to stay quiet and not say a word; mainly because, I was in no mood for Gaz to get on my case. Even though I did put on a silent act, dad could still notice the circles that surrounded visibly around the bottoms of my eyes.

It was 8:15 and the bus had finally arrived. I saw kids from different houses just a few blocks down saying their goodbyes to their parents and running towards the bus with their knapsacks on their backs and lunch boxes in their hands. I was standing in line beside Gaz, who was still concentrating on her Game Slave 1 and didn't look up since breakfast. When we finally got up to the front of the bus, I slowly stepped on the ledge and looked innocently at the bus driver, who motioned me to come in. As I walked in, I notice that most of the seats were taken, especially the ones at the back of the bus. I took my time in trying to find a good spot to sit in but it was harder than I expected to be.

I fidgeted nervously, trying to find a seat. I noticed several groups of kids were engaged in casual conversation in the backseat. They were all discussing about their summer holidays and already planning on what they wanted to do on their very first weekend that was coming up during the year. It all seemed to be pretty interesting but apparently, dad wouldn't allow us to do anything interesting because he was rarely around half the time to even take us out. Neither Gaz nor I could drive because we weren't old enough, let alone own a car. As I continued approaching every seat that I could spot; in a matter of seconds, kids were placing their hands down on the open spaces where it was possible to fit one more person beside them. At last, I found a seat and I slowly maneuvered around the area of my spot and I finally made myself comfortable in the rusty, dirty bus seat. I shifted to my right to see that I was sitting with a short peppy red headed boy, who was wearing an immense grin on his face. He sort of reminded me of a young kid who was at least at the age of five. Though, this kid was not five years of age. It turned out that he was the same age as me, but that was no surprise; because obviously, we were going to be in the same school together.

"Hi, what's your name? I'm Keef," the boy greeted happily and stuck out a hand for me to shake it.

I just shot a slightly dirty look at the kid. But weirdly enough, he didn't budge. His face was still the same and his grin remained freshly intact. I figured right now and then that there was nothing that could get this guy upset. So, I answered submissively.

"I'm Dib," I finally replied shaking the boy's hand slowly.

"Wow, I could tell that you and I will be the best of friends. I'm sure you've had friends before and they have probably dumped you for someone cooler. But don't worry; I'm going to be the bestest and most loyal friend ever, new best buddy of mine. We can go to each other's houses, the circus and each others' birthday parties. Oh boy, it'll be so much fun!" He squealed in delight.

I just looked straight ahead, not paying any attention at what Keef was saying. I looked back him to see if he was speech was over, but it wasn't. Instead, he decided to continue.

"We can have sleepovers, play charades and do stuff that only best friends would do. You do know what friends are, don't you?"

As Keef continued rambling on, I was completely lost in a trance and I lost track of what was going on. Now, just simple words that I was hearing from a simple-minded kid turned into an elaborating speech full of mumbo-jumbo.

"Dib? Dib? Are you listening to me?" Keef asked trying to snap me back into reality.

I finally snapped out of it and looked back at the red-headed boy, who was expecting for an answer.

"That's cool," was the only thing that I said.

Keef paused for a moment, making me believe that he was catching on to the fact that I wasn't paying much attention. But then, he just smiled. "Cool!" He chirped.

When we got to the school, the bus made a complete halt near the pavement and when the bus door flapped open, kids began walking off. As I finally got off the bus, I looked up at the top of a large building that was written _Skool_ in block writing. _Hmm, it looks a lot bigger than the last time I remembered it,_ I thought to myself a bit confused. I walked inside to get a little tour of the building. Even though nothing has changed much, I still felt like taking a short walk before I would head to my locker regardless. I strolled in the hallway, seeing how empty it was. It actually wasn't as crowded as I expected to be, which kind of puzzled me because usually at this time, there would at least be a few students walking around for some kind of purpose. But, still no sign of anybody. I decided to stop by my locker, to gather my books. Class started at 9:00 and it was five minutes before that. I carried a sheet of paper in my hand as I searched for my locker. The sheet had my locker number which was 51 and my combination number which of course, I could not reveal.

After gathering my books, I headed up the stairs to my first class, glancing at the room number that was written on my schedule. Despite the many paths I had to take and the obstacles that stood in my way; I finally made it to my first class; panting, indicating that I was out of breath and a loss for words.

"Hello. Sorry, I'm late." I said in between breaths.

The teacher just cocked an eyebrow. "Um, who are you?"

"I'm Dib; Dib Membrane."

"Membrane, Membrane," the teacher muttered to himself as he scrolled through the attendance. "Uh, no… Sorry, but you're not on here."

"What? But there's got to be some kind of mistake," I said in disbelief, as I rushed over to look at the attendance. When I tried to scroll through myself, it turned out that my name wasn't there.

I looked up at the teacher and shot him a look of disbelief. He just came up to me and put a hand on my shoulder.

"I think you're in the wrong class, son."

"That's impossible. It says on my schedule; room 341."

"Can I just see your schedule for a second?"

I handed him my schedule. The teacher took a glimpse at it and chuckled.

"Hmm, that's weird. Well, I can't help you but if you go down to the guidance office, I'm sure that the guidance counselor can fix your schedule. I'm kind of in the middle of something, but I apologize sincerely.

"Thanks, anyway. I'll head down to the guidance office to get this straightened out now. And I happen to know the way there, so this shouldn't give you any more trouble."

I made my way out of the classroom, when something struck my mind which made me stop in my tracks. "By the way, I didn't catch your name. What is it?"

"Mr. Storell."

"Okay. Thanks again for all your help, Mr. Storell."

"My pleasure, son," Mr. Storell beamed at me.

I turned around again and continued heading for the door. I made my way down to the guidance office. I peered from outside and I notice that there were several students inside which meant that they were experiencing the same problem. At this rate, it would take the whole day for these counselors to get through all of these peers. I sighed in disappointment as I opened the door and entered. When I went inside, I found an empty red chair and I settled myself in it; waiting for someone to call on me.

I sat there, twiddling my thumbs and it wasn't long until I felt a smooth hand touch my shoulder. I shifted around to the source of where the hand came from and I was face to face with one of the guidance counselors. He had a welcoming empathetic look and he looked like that he wanted to help me.

"Hi. I noticed that you've been waiting in here patiently for quite some time now. Step into my office, so we could deal with whatever the situation is."

The counselor gestured me to follow him and I stepped into his office. "Have a seat," he motioned me; showing me where the seat was. I sat down while I watched the counselor flipping through some files in a cabinet. He pulled out a file which had my name written on the top and papers that were stored inside.

"So, your name is Dib?" He asked as he cracked the file open slightly, pulling out a form.

"Yes."

"I'm Mr. Dwindle, the new guidance counselor. Okay, so what seems to be the problem?"

"I seemed to have my schedule mixed up. It said that my homeroom number was 341, but my name was not on the attendance and Mr. Storell told me that I was in the wrong class."

"Oh, okay. That was my mistake. I seemed to have mixed up the numbers. Your room number was 241, not 341 and your homeroom teacher is Mrs. Bitters, not Mr. Storell."

I just swelled up when I heard Mrs. Bitters' name. _I had her last year. I should be in a different class this year,_ I thought angrily to myself.

"So, don't worry," Mr. Dwindle continued in a friendly matter. "It was just a minor error. It was no big deal. So, I think you should just go off to class, now," he shoved his hand forward as a sign to go back.

I was on my way out, when I heard him calling me.

"Hey, Dib?"

I turned around and looked at him bored. "Yes?"

"Let me know if you would like to chat sometime. Not just about skool, but if there is anything else on your mind that you would just like to discuss about."

"Um… Okay," I moved away slowly and headed to my class.

When I finally made it to homeroom and just when I was bout to shut the door, I saw Mrs. Bitters' head swift rapidly in my direction. She shot me an angry look and growled at me. Knowing Mrs. Bitters', she was in no mood for anything, so I just smiled weakly at her.

"Sit down, Dib! I have a very important announcement to make," she ordered.

I found myself a seat near the window and I parked my bum onto the chair.

"Class, we have a horrible new student. I'm about to introduce him and I suggest you all pay attention to him…" She narrowed her eyes rapidly around the room as a spider was creeping and crawling right up her face. "Otherwise, I will inflict doom on you all!"

"This… Is Zim," she stated. She pushed the new student in front for everyone to see. Most of the students in the class were sleeping and didn't bother to make any eye contact. Mrs. Bitters' just growled at them, which got their attention and the students sat straight up, with blood rushing to their veins in each one of them. But, that was only for a brief amount of time. Even though they kept their heads up, the students were still drained.

"Hi, Zim," they greeted in unison.

Zim was just quiet. He didn't utter a single word. He didn't make a single sound or even said hello. Zim just made his way to his seat and rested his arm on the desk.

"Now that I've made that gagging announcement; now, I go away from you all!" Mrs. Bitters shrieked. Her shadow then disintegrated into the midst and all that was left was black mist floating around.

I just stared at Zim from where I was sitting. I was so astonished on his appearance. He just looked so… so different. He had green skin, jet black hair that was jelled up and pale blue eyes that you would tempt you to look into them. _What was he? Was Zim even human? _I continued to stare at him; dazed and focused without blinking even once. _He's got no ears. How can any normal human being not have any ears?_ I wondered. I looked down to notice that he had only three fingers and they were sharp. I glanced at the features around him and I noticed even more strange things. I couldn't take my eyes off of him. Still not blinking, I then began to drool subconsciously as I took another gander at this mysterious being. _Aliens aren't real; no one has proved about other life existing on other planets…Well, I mean, if he is an alien… What's he doing here in skool? If he has come here, just to keep it low key, then I bet he's planning something diabolical._ I continued to ponder deeper into the thought. By now, the abstraction that I was supposed to be doing class work completely disappeared. I was too busy occupying myself with Zim._ Was I developing an obsession over him? No, that's preposterous. Why would I obsess over someone or something that I just met? Even if it was Zim, it's just not natural,_ I thought to myself. I peered over my desk to see Mrs. Bitters growling and shooting me an 'I've warned you. Now, prepare for your demise' look. This made me stoop a bit low, to attempt to hide my face. Of course I was used to Mrs. Bitters' eerie ways at this point. But this was the first day of skool for crying out loud. I needed some time to adjust, especially since there have been some changes.


	2. Chapter 2: Looking Into the Truth

**Chapter 2: Looking into the Truth**

"Dib, would you like to enlighten us on why you are drifting off into space like that?" Mrs. Bitters' grumble that neared in my face startled me, which snapped me out of my trance. I suddenly blink and rub my eyes hard, having bright illusions of yellow and orange running through the closing of my eyes. I finally opened my eyes and felt my retinas blazing as I continued to blink more.

"Uh… No, Mrs. Bitters," I snapped back into reality for good, struggling in trying to conjure up how I was going to respond and putting it into sensible wording. "I-I was just um…" I trailed off.

My peers were all just weirded out and disturbed by my unusual behavior. Well, what do want from me? Having the most difficult time to come up with something witty to say to your scary teacher; you should try it sometime.

Mrs. Bitters just shook her head like she was disappointed in me. "Sometimes, I just don't understand you, Dib."

Yes, okay. You know, this isn't the first time someone has told me that. I have been constantly reminded everyday that I am just _weird_ or _obnoxious_, or I just talk too much, courtesy of Gaz. It has already been my second day of school and according to Mrs. Bitters and my peers; I've already made a bad impression. Being noticed in such a negative way is not all that is cracked up to be. Having all those eyes staring up at you, giggling and gossiping behind your back for no apparent reason. You don't know what it's like! No one knows. Not even, Zim. I'm probably being overdramatic and acting like my typical, paranoid self, but it's all worth it. One day, people will come to understand me and my ways of thinking. And once I prove to the world on what Zim is, no one will ever come to judge me ever again.

"Mrs. Bitters?" I suddenly shot my hand straight in the air, high enough so she could see. She didn't seem to budge. I began waving my hand frantically, "oooh, oooh, Mrs. Bitters, Mrs. Bitters," practically annoying her to death. She still however, pretended not to notice me.

"Mrs. Bitters," I raised my voice, starting to grow impatient. The teacher finally sighed and finally gave in.

"What is it, Dib?" By now, she was extremely irked by my antics.

"Could I go take a walk?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever," she said quickly, shooing me away without making any eye contact.

I then took this opportunity to leave the classroom. I shut the door behind myself quietly, without disturbing anyone and I made my way down the hall. As I was walking down the hallway, I met up with someone unpleasant. That's putting it mildly, actually. I practically bumped into him. When I backed away to look up; I noticed that there were a few more of him standing beside him. I assumed that this guy that I slammed myself into by accident was the leader and those guys were backup. Even though they were all the same height, it wasn't hard to tell who was carrying the group. It also didn't confuse me to know that this guy looked like a bully. He was tall, fairly over on the chubby side, he had hair in places where you wouldn't expect and he had blond, thin messy hair strapped over the backside of his hair and had the darkest brown eyes that anyone has ever seen. I backed away slowly at all of this and flung my hands up in mid-air to protect myself. The boy just snickered and snorted at this gesture as he made his way closer to me. I then tried to make a run for it, but his fist slammed against a locker to hinder my path.

"Hey Dibbles, what are you doing out of class?" I began to feel a lump forming in my throat and hot streaks of sweat dripping down the sides of my face as I was feeling threatened.

I knew that I was no good at confrontation. If I ever made even the slightest movement, I would get beaten to a pulp for it. This just made me sweat and pant loud enough as my heart was swinging back and forth inside my chest. I just stayed silent as a felt a tug on my shirt from one of the members of the gang and it didn't take much strength for him to just yank it off from the back. The strength of the tug was powerful enough to make me spin around rapidly a couple of times and when the spinning came to a halt, I had a dizzy feeling, making me swerve involuntary, nearly bumping into brick walls and lockers, barely catching myself in time to prevent any more damage. I was finally face to face with a torn up shirt and the person dangling it for me to see.

"Hey, look. Dibby's naked," one of them teased.

Well, technically, I was only half naked. It's not like these guys stripped off my pants, just my shirt. That wasn't the point, though. I was too busy worrying about what these three nut jobs had in store for me. The leader just picked me up, tightening his grip on me, making it hard for me to breath. I just choked and gagged as his grip grew tighter on my flesh. Just as I thought that I was a goner-

"Okay, who's the lucky someone?" came a familiar voice.

I turned around to see a five o'clock shadow approaching the particular zone of the hallway. The bullies just turned around to see that it was Mr. Dwindle standing in front of them. "Did you boys miss out on health class and you're just picking on innocent students as a way of showing your affection for them?"

The students all just blushed at this; looking intimidated and slightly embarrassed to be facing a teacher at this point. The leader just released me gingerly and set me gently on the floor, keeping his distance and making sure that he did no more harm. Mr. Dwindle just shot the bullies one more glare to send them off running. The sensitive guidance counselor just picked me up and set me on my feet.

"C'mon, Dib," he gestured me. "Let's go find you something to wear."

With all of the commotion, I forgot that I was missing my shirt. I was feeling cold with all the breeze from the air conditioner swifting by, that is. I followed Mr. Dwindle to his office, still shivering and hugging myself tightly. When I got there, he ordered me to take a seat. I sat on the soft, comfy chair, while he stepped out of his office to get me a brand new shirt. I was still shivering and shaking from what happened in the hallway. When he came back, Mr. Dwindle was holding a navy blue shirt, revealing the usual smiley face design that was sitting in the center. I grabbed the shirt and placed it on over my head. I was about to make my way out, when the counselor told me to stick around.

"Actually, Dib. I called you in here because I've been meaning to ask you something important." This got me to stop in my tracks to listen to what he had to say. I neared myself back to my spot and sat down, with my hands folded on my lap, as he began his speech. "I need you to do something for me. I notice that this is your second year here and I've been taking notice that you haven't been socially friendly to many of the students here in skool. I'm also asking for this favor because I am new here and I would like to get to know a little bit about the students here…" Mr. Dwindle hesitated as he was going to utter the next thing. "I-I… Ineedyoutosurveythestudentshere," he said that awfully quickly.

"Come again?" I didn't quite catch that.

He just sighed and hesitated as he tried to speak more slowly. "I need you to survey the students. Not just your peers but, other children here, too. I want you to improve your social skills with these kids and get them to open up to you more. I know that you are capable of this, Dib and that's why I chose you to be the school's interviewer.

I just cocked an eyebrow. "But, couldn't you just talk to the students in person? Why do you need me? These people hate my guts. Did you not see what was going on just now?!" I grew angered at this.

"Dib, Dib, Dib, Dib, Dib. Please, calm down," Mr. Dwindle put a hand on my shoulder to stop me from venting anymore. "Look, there's no pressure here. I just need you to ask a few simple questions to at least fifty people."

"Fifty"?

"Relax; it's just a minor interview." He tried to reassure me. "Nothing bad will come about of this. You can take some time to prepare and you could even come up with the questions on your own. How's that?"

I just stared at him smugly; giving him the message that that wasn't helping me much. What was Mr. Dwindle thinking? Almost everybody in this skool was so screwed up, especially Mrs. Bitters. If he actually believes that I would be left alone with these lunatics for even ten seconds, he was nuts!

He tried again. "Look, just get at least a little bit more information on your peers and you'll be free afterwards. I won't ask you for anymore favors. I especially want you to know Zim a little more."

"Zim?" I just shrieked in major disbelief.

"Yeah," Mr. Dwindle replied calmly. Just chat with Zim a little bit in your interview and I'm sure that you two will get along just fine."

"Look, Mr. Dwindle," I stood up straight at my counselor sort of interrupting him in the middle, not looking too thrilled or confident about all of this. "I'm not sure about all of this. I hardly know any of these kids, let alone, Zim." I paced around in a panicky manner. "I don't know if I could do this… I mean, Zim's no ordinary kid and I would…" I stopped suddenly, realizing that I might have made a mistake with what I just said.

The helpful man just leaned in closer, slightly puzzled and expected for an explanation for what I just told him. "What do you mean, Dib?"

"Nothing," I quickly answered, hoping that he remained oblivious to what I told him and that we could move onto something else.

"Okay, then," he just sat back in his chair. He smiled again and just continued. "Here, I provided you with some material." He handed me a notebook, a pencil and a tape recorder that had an empty tape inside. I reluctantly took the equipment from his hand, not looking all too thrilled about what was going on. "You could interview your peers during lunch time, after school and before school periods. Now, let me walk you back to class, so Mrs. Bitters won't think that you're missing."

_I don't even think she would notice, let alone care, _I wanted to tell him. Mr. Dwindle and I walked back together and when we finally reached the destination, he just dropped me off. I was about to enter the classroom, when the bell rang.

"Well, looks like its lunch time," Mr. Dwindle grinned as he faced me.

As I saw the students making their way out of the classroom, chatting, laughing and chewing their gum, I just looked at Mr. Dwindle nervously.

"I can't do this," I whispered to him.

Mr. Dwindle just placed his hand on my shoulder and rubbed it playfully. "Don't worry; you're going to be just fine."

I gulped loudly and I made my way down the hall, shaking nervously and sweating uncontrollably. I passed by the class's disabled student, Willy and I decided to interview him, first.

"Willy," I got his attention.

Willy just turned around and smiled manically. Despite the part that I was disturbed by the frightening expression drawn his face, I decided to suck it up and start the interview.

"Um, Willy," I tried to sound confident. "If you found twenty dollars on the street; what would you do with it?"

"…Shoes," he laughed insanely.

"Ooookay, then. I'll just put you down for other, then," I wrote as the pencil scratched on the notepad.

"Next question," I straightened the pad before I continued. "What would you say is your biggest fear?"

"Leprechauns! They're after me pot of gold!" I heard Willy yell instantly, running around in a circle.

"Leprechauns," I muttered to myself calmly, while writing it down on the pad.

"Okay. Now, if you had to choose, what would be your ideal environment to live in?"

"…Shoes!"

"A desert island."

"I'd live in a mansion."

"A skate park."

These were all responses from other students. Well, I could honestly say that Mr. Dwindle has proven my wrong for a new guidance counselor. I never thought that so many people would get excited over a small interview. Everyone responded truthfully and openly. I couldn't find anyone who laughed at this or mocked the whole idea of being interviewed. I might have not gone through at least half of the student body; I was however proud that I could go through a reasonable amount in such a short amount of time. By the time that I got through at least 11 people, the ball rang.

"Well, Dibbers. So, how did it go?" I heard a cheerful voice from behind me. For a second, I felt a bit freaked out that someone was watching over me. I turned around to face the being who was talking to me and speak of the devil; it was Mr. Dwindle. This is quite peculiar and actually not to mention, creepy. Was he watching my every move or something? I'm getting the feeling that he doesn't believe in my capability to complete a simple task. But, if this meant that I had someone to assist me in anything that I had trouble in, then I'd say that it was worth it.

"Not, bad," I replied modestly, flashing him a weak smile and feeling a bit embarrassed in front of him.

"See, I knew you could do it," he gave me a pat on the shoulder as a gesture of support.

"Well, not exactly," I brought his hopes down a bit. "I haven't really gotten through many people, yet. It was only lunch. Also, I forgot to tell you that I won't be staying after school today."

"What? Why not?"

I fidgeted nervously, seeing how upset I made Mr. Dwindle feel. "Well, something just came up. My dad is hosting a barbeque tonight and I promised him that I would be there and I have a lot of homework to catch up on."

"I know," he said feeling peppy and cheerful again. "Why don't you interview your guests at the barbeque?"

"Huh"? I stared at him dumbfounded.

"Yeah. You live close by here and it's going to be a huge party, so-"

"How do you figure that?" I immediately interrupted.

"Well, a barbeque is a very social friendly celebration-"

"It is?" I interrupted one more time, trying to figure out how he got that.

Mr. Dwindle just remained calm. "Yes, it is. I should know; I've been to dozens of barbeques in my past time. I was very popular back in my high school years and I was known to be very sociable at these kinds of events. So, what better way to prepare for a barbeque, is to have someone with a lot of experience with them, right?" He nudged me playfully.

"I guess," I told him, rubbing my shoulders. "But, I don't think that I know too many of the guests. Most of them are friends of my dad's and I might not feel comfortable interviewing complete strangers."

"Hey, don't worry about it!" Now, he literally hit me in the shoulder, making my body rock forward and nearly making me trip, which I didn't like. This guy is obviously getting on my nerves. _Does he ever have a bad thought about anyone? Because the way I see it; looking happy, cheerful and being optimistic at all times is just not natural. In fact, it's quite disturbing. _I shuddered at my own thought, drawing goose bumps in my flesh which only made their way up further.

"You know what?" I stuttered. I-I've got a lot of homework to catch up on, s-so, I don't know if I'll have time to," I was shaking, trying to make up an excuse.

The expression on the cheerful counselor's face just turned into a dejected look. "Okay, I understand," he nodded slowly.

"But, I'll think about it!" That cheered him up.

"Do what you feel is right. I can't stop you. If you have the time, then that's great. But, if you don't, then that's okay, too. I won't be mad, I promise."

That made me feel a little bit better. _No pressure_ I thought to myself, relieved. I ran out of the guidance office and headed home. I had to update on my blog, anyway, so that should keep me occupied for at least a good five minutes.

_Dear Blog,_

_Today was a long day for me. I just met the new guidance counselor, Mr. Dwindle and he seems awfully nice. The only trouble with him is that he could be very forceful at times. I wonder if it has anything to do with his job and how hard he's been working. Anyway, not much to say except that I had to interview some students, this afternoon. Surprisingly, it went exceptionally well. I didn't get through everybody, yet but I managed to reach up to eleven people. This is just the beginning of the skool year, but I'm starting to feel accepted for the first time. I think that students actually see me as normal for once and that this might be the start of a new-_

My typing was then interrupted by an ad. I just huffed in frustration by this. I just hoped that this stupid ad better not have interfered with my work. I glanced at the ad; it was an image of a black mask, in a dark background and on the side, it had some writing on it. I read the righting a loud to myself.

_Paranormal investigator wanted…_

_If you seek out the phenomena of hunting ghosts, UFO's, Bigfoot or if you believe to see any other life form to be in existence, then this is your opportunity to join the Swollen Eyeball Network. We assist beginners in finding creatures by photographing, filming and many more ways to find proof of existence of any life form in the universe._

This actually seemed to pique my interest. _Wow, existence of UFO's. Maybe I could expose Zim. I could tell them that I have an alien in my class and their bound to believe me. If Zim is up to something evil, I could bring him to the authorities, where they can be rid of him for good,_ I thought evilly to myself. At the same time, I was also excited. This could also be a chance to get closer to dad since he's already into real science. I kept on reading…

_If you think that you have found any creature, please inform us as soon as possible. Anyone who does find any of these things listed will be rewarded and will be promoted up to each level._

I minimized the page where I have written my blog and in a matter of seconds, I got to work registering myself into the organization. I filled out all of the essentials and had even put down my e-mail address, so the Swollen Eyeballs could contact me anytime. The problem that I encountered was that I couldn't think of an alias for myself. I figured that this would be mandatory, considering that you had to keep your identity a secret. Feeling a bit worried, I clicked on the register button, dismissing the part where I had no alias. When the page loaded, a figure appeared on the screen.

"Welcome to the Swollen Eyeball Network. We are pleased for your registration and we will take any pleasure in assisting you as best as we can. From here on it, you are known as Agent Mothman. Come back tomorrow for your first task, good bye."

The figure disappeared and I just sat back in my chair. _Whew. Well, so much for coming up with a name _I breathed a sigh of relief. I jumped off of my chair and headed downstairs. I notice that there wasn't anyone in the kitchen, so I assumed that everyone was outside and the barbeque has already started. I still had Mr. Dwindle's suggestion on my mind, so I finally caved in and decided to do the interview. I stepped outside to see plenty of food, drinks, refreshments and chatting people. There was even a camera crew filming the entire thing. Before, I got into the interview; I decided to make small talk with some of the guests. I walked over to one of the guests to get his attention.

"Hello. My name is Dib," I began.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Dib. I-" he stopped. He cupped his chin and pointed an assuming finger at me. "Hey, aren't you Membrane's son?"

"Yes, sir," I replied nervously.

"Yeah, I thought you looked familiar. I'm Professor Cranium. Your dad talks about you a lot and tells me that you're thinking of taking up science."

"Yes, I am."

"Why do you want to take that path, son?"

I just fidgeted some more, trying to gather up the words that I was going to say. "Well, I find science to be very interesting. There are a lot of captivating and compelling things to learn about. Especially if you would like to let's say… Study about aliens, I guess?"

Professor Cranium just chuckled at this. "Your dad tells me that you're very talkative, too. He says that it's your way of expressing yourself, so I told him, fine; I respect that. There's nothing wrong with speaking your mind or getting something important off your chest.

"Yes, well, I get that from my sister, too. I remember this one time-"

"Hello, son," I heard dad interrupt as he approached us. "I see that you and Professor Cranium are getting along quite nicely."

"We are. We actually have so much in common. Why is there a camera crew here?" I felt like changing the subject to get straight to the point.

"That? That's nothing. After working twice as more hours during the week, I made enough money to hire a camera crew to film the barbeque. Say son, I heard that your new guidance counselor wanted you to interview a few people in skool, today. Why don't you interview some of the guests here and have some of your interviews on tape?"

I was about to argue, "Um-"

"Say, that new green kid is here. Why don't you ask him a few questions?" He interrupted me again.

"Who? Zim?"

"Yes. Why don't you have a chat with Zim? Get to know him a little bit better. He's new here, so I thought that you could make him feel a bit welcome."

Dad gave me a little shove in Zim's direction. "Sure, dad, whatever you say."

I walked over to the snack table which was where the green kid was standing. With my heart beating vigorously, I slowly made my way toward him.

"Z-Zim, is it?" I asked shyly.

"Yes," he turned around to face me.

"Hi, my name is Dib and I was wondering if I could have an interview with you."

"Sure."

There was silence after that. Feeling awkward, I nudged on my shirt collar a couple of times, straightened out my jacket and raised my glasses. I cleared my throat to eliminate the dry flem and the forming lump. I tried to open my mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

"What's wrong?"

I began to feel uncomfortable after he noticed how awkward I was feeling and how much he tool notice at the nervous fidgeting. "Nothing, nothing," I told him in an alarmed tone.

Zim just cocked an eyebrow and grew suspicious. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, yeah; I'm totally fine, honest."

Zim just studied me one more time, to have my sheepish grin catch his eye. But, then he just turned back and shrugged. "Okay, then.

I took a deep breath and started again. "So, tell me about yourself."

"Myself? What is this that you speak of?"

"You know. Talk about well you know, you."

"Yes, yes. I forgot what you meant for a second. Okay, well…" He trailed off, looking at me. This time, he was the one who felt intimidated. Zim just cleared his throat, "well, I just moved here-"

"What about your green skin?" I interrupted him, jumping to the next topic.

"It's a skin condition," he simply stated.

"I see that you have no ears. Is that part of your _skin condition_?"

Zim took note that my tone of voice on that last part sounded harsh. He then just shot me a glare. It took me a while to realize what he was so irked about, but then when I finally caught it; I just covered my mouth in shame.

"Sorry," I apologized, feeling guilty.

"That's okay," the green skinned boy just smiled.

We just continued on in the interview, until I went through all of the questions. We were even engaged in our own little conversation, telling each other a little bit more about ourselves and it went on for hours, which only seemed like minutes. When the barbeque ended and it was time to go, Zim just waved at me and gave me a friendly smile. "I'll see you in class tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay," I called back and waved.

When Zim finally left, I helped dad clean up. It was silent for 10 minutes and I grew bored. "Hey, dad?"

"Yes, son?"

"You were right. Zim seems like a nice guy and he's harmless."

"Really?" Dad just smirked playfully as he continued picking up some streamers.

"Yes. Actually, Zim and I actually are actually good friends. He told me some interesting things about him."

"Like what?"

"Well, I can't recall but he told me that he just moved here."

"That's very nice, son. Hey, before you go, could you call your sister out here? I see a bee hive out here and I need her to knock it down."

"Sure, I'll go get her."

"Also, here's the tape for your interview. You could show that counselor of your's tomorrow."

I thanked him again and I ran inside and found Gaz sitting on the couch, playing her game. "Hey, Gaz?"

Gaz just cringed and crept her head up in a tense manner. "What do want now, Dib?"

"Dad needs you," I stated.

Gaz threw her game on the couch and leapt up. "Fine, but this better not take long.

As soon as Gaz left the room, I headed hurriedly upstairs to my room. I set the tape down on my dresser and shut the light off behind me.

The next day at school, I went to the guidance office to hand Mr. Dwindle the footage. We both watched the tape together as he got to critique it.

"Excellent. You see, I knew you could do it. I notice that you were very open to the students and you connected beautifully together."

"Thanks, well… I'm going to head off to class." I told Mr. Dwindle, whose back was turned.

"Go ahead. I'll see you at lunch." He shooed me off, distracted by the tape.

When I made my way to class, I was stopped in the hallway.

"So, did you really make friends with the new kid?" One of the students asked.

"Uh, yeah. He's really not such a bad guy. We got to talk yesterday and everything went well.

"What did he tell you?" I saw Zita creep up from behind me.

"Nothing, special, really. He just told me about his past and about his life and…"

At that moment, I began to realize something. "Um, I've got to go."

I rushed out of the crowd, pushing people in my way and hurrying down to the guidance office. When I got there, I was panting so hard and it took me a while to catch my breath.

"Mr. Dwindle. I'm going to need the tape back. There were a few errors and I need to edit it." I breathed.

"Edit it"? He just raised an eyebrow. "On the contrary, Dib. I really enjoyed your tape, except…. There were a few weak parts with your interview with Zim."

"No, but you see; that's what I came to talk to you about. I need the tape back because of the mistakes I made while interviewing him."

"It's alright," he reassured me. I'm not going to let one error bother me. Just that next time, I need you to be more open to him. I know that Zim's new here, but he won't bite you."

"I'll remember that for next time," I said cutting to the chase. So, where's the tape?"

"Well, after you left, I asked the school's media assistants to air it across the school. I wanted people to see, so they could learn a thing or two from your interview.

My mouth just flung open when I heard this. "Uh oh."

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	3. Chapter 3: Rumors

Chapter 3: Rumors

**Chapter 3: Rumors**

I just stared at Mr. Dwindle, still in shock. "How could you do that?!" I shouted, breaking the silence.

"What do you mean? My intentions were good, Dib. I only wanted to show your peers on how valuable friendship and welcoming is to the system. I didn't mean any harm." Mr. Dwindle replied. I took notice that he was wearing a look of guilt on his face and feared my reaction. So, I tried to calm down and soften my tone.

"Look, there were some things on that tape that should have not been shown to anyone."

"Then why didn't you tell me before I sent it?"

"I didn't realize until the last minute. I didn't know that you were going to run it over the school. I thought it was just for us."

Mr. Dwindle averted his back from me and had hesitation in his voice. "Well, I intended it to be private, as well. But when I was watching the video, I felt so inspired that I felt that people needed to see this. Otherwise, they will never get the message and sooner or later, the school will fall apart."

I just sighed. "Look, it doesn't matter, right now. Right now, my biggest concern is retrieving that tape…" I stopped when a thought occurred in my mind. "Wait, did they air the tape, yet?"

"No, not yet. The media group had told me that they weren't going to air it yet because their televisions are fluctuating and they don't know what caused it. So, it's going to take some time to repair them. Until then, you still have a chance of getting the tape back; however, I won't guarantee you that it will be easy. You have class now and I could get in trouble if Mrs. Bitters found out that I let you go."

"Then, I'm just going to have to skip the period. Mrs. Bitters can not know about this. If she asks, tell her that I'm absent and I couldn't make it to skool because I'm gravely ill or something."

The guidance counselor just shook his head. "Look, Dib. Even if you do attempt to pull this off, you still won't be able to find the tape on time. The members of the media crew are all in their classes now and they locked their doors. There are also hundreds of thousands of tapes; it could take you a while to find the right one."

Well that's just perfect. The one time that I need Mr. Dwindle's optimism in a situation, he finally decides to give me the down side to everything. I just made my way out of the office, without saying another word.

Mr. Dwindle caught me in sight. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to find that tape, by any means necessary. You got me into this mess and now I have no choice but to fix it myself," I snapped back at him.

"Look, Dib; I apologize sincerely. I didn't intend for this to happen. If I could turn back time and stop myself from sending out that tape, I would. But, there is nothing that I could do about it at least, not right now. I wish I could help but, I have my own work to tend to. Everyone has already headed to their first period and I suggest you do the same," Mr. Dwindle told me firmly.

I just slammed the door behind me, not giving him a response. I went out to search for the tape. Of course I knew that it wasn't going to be easy. But, I needed to conjure up a clever strategy before it was too late. I stormed to my locker and slammed my books on the floor. Angry at myself, but even more furious with Mr. Dwindle for making me do this dumb interview in the first place, I just turned the knob, frustrated and feeling a stress headache coming on me and swung the door open. When I did that, I heard a _clang_ noise like it hit someone. Feeling guilty for what harm I might have done, I drew the locker slowly and closer to me, revealing who or what was behind it. When I at last reached my destination of the locker door, revealing the figure; it was a familiar red head kid that was about my height and wore freckles all over his face.

I just swung the door in the other direction and gasped, knowing who it was. "Ow."

" Keef?" I said feeling a bit guilty. "What are you doing out of class?"

"Oh, hey Dib," Keef cheerfully greeted, while rubbing the side of his head. "I just heard that my bestest buddy was absent from skool today and I made an excuse to Mrs. Bitters, telling her that I wasn't feeling so good, either; just to see my bestest friend in the whole wide world. Now, while I was about to head over to your house, I bump into _you_! Isn't that crazy?" Keef threw his arms in the air, but quickly dropped them when he realized something. "Hey, if you're sick… Aren't you supposed to be at home?"

I hurriedly made my way over to Keef, placing my hand over his mouth. "Okay, listen, Keef. The truth is… I'm not sick."

The freckled boy just shoved my hand away. "You're not?" He said aloud. I just covered his mouth again and whispered to him.

"Keep it down!" I exclaimed in a whisper. "No one knows that I lied. You're the only one knows about this, so I need you to keep it a secret."

"But why? If you're not sick, then what are you doing out of class?"

"Okay…" I tried to catch my breath and hesitated before I spoke again. "The truth is that I'm out here because Mr. Dwindle told me to interview the student body and it was all on tape and well… Mr. Dwindle sent it out and-"

"Mr. Dwindle? The new guidance counselor?" Keef shrieked.

"Yes," I clenched my teeth through my words. "Mr. Dwindle sent out the tape and now I need to get back. I-I don't have the time to go too much into detail here but what I 'm really trying to say is…" I bowed my head, defeated. "I need your help."

"My help? Really?"

"Yes."

"Oh boy! We could be like secret agents going on a mission. We could wear undercover gear and fight evil like the spies on TV," Keef practically let his imagination run with him. "And we could-"

I just sighed loudly, interrupting the boy's thoughts; feeling aggravated and not in the mood to hear any ridiculous stories. "No. No undercover work, no fighting evil. Could you just help me get the tape back, please?"

"Okay!" Keef clapped his hands in delight.

"Good," I nodded my head to him and then began walking away and I gestured him to come with me. "C'mon, let's go."

Keef just looked at me puzzled and rushed to keep up with me by the time I was a few steps way from him. "Where are we going?"

"We need to stick to the plan. Mrs. Bitters doesn't know that what I told her was an excuse. So, we have to continue to make it convincing that I am sick and the way to do that is to go home and plan out our approach."

"Ohhhhh," Keef nodded beginning to catch on. "Wait… I don't get it."

I just slapped my forehead with the palm of my hand and pulled Keef along by the collar of his shirt. "Just, c'mon!"

While on the way to my house, Keef began to babble on randomly. "Remember the day where we met on the bus and we started talking and I told you that we were going to be the bestest of friends for ever and ever and ever?"

"Yes, Keef, I do remember that. But right now, I don't feel like strolling down memory lane and discussing about this right now," I was losing my patience, still trying to seem nice. "You understand, right?"

"Okay. I promise that I won't bother you anymore."

"Good."

"So, why are we going to your house and not mine? Are you planning a surprise party?"

"No, Keef. We're going to my house for a few reasons. First, no one's home, so my house is the perfect place where we could come up with a plan and not get caught. Secondly, I have a house key; so, even though my dad locked the door, I could just open the door. And third, I have my lab top in my room, so I could contact the Swollen Eyeballs."

"Huh?" Keef just went blank.

I sighed as I explained to him again but this time, about something else. "The Swollen Eyeballs are an organization that seeks out the paranormal."

"And what does this have to do with your tape?"

"My tape has an interview with the new kid. His name is Zim and I have a theory that he is an alien. But, he doesn't know that I know, so I must contact the Swollen Eyeballs, so they could have access to the location of the skool and the room where the media crew works in. They could run a scan to see if the tape is still in the room and then, we could just sneak back into the skool, retrieve the tape and erase it."

"That just sounds like a lot of work," Keef complained, not acting too fond of my plan.

"I know it does, Keef. But if getting the tape back means to do a little bit of dirty work, then we don't have much of an option."

"Okay. I'll help, just for you Dib," the red headed boy agreed.

I plugged in my lab top and visited the website, to contact the Swollen Eyeballs, but no one was there.

"Huh? That's weird. How come their not responding?"

"I don't know. Maybe no one's home."

"But they told me last night to come back for my first task. I argued. How could they forget?" With the Swollen Eyeballs not responding, how am I going to be able to get the tape back?"

A surprisingly crazy but ingenious idea clicked in Keef's mind. "Oooh, I know! I know!" He jumped, waving his hands frantically. "Why don't we go back to skool, sneak into the room where the tape is and get it back without anyone spotting us?"

I studied that idea to myself for a moment. "Hmm, you know something, Keef? That's actually a brilliant idea," I told him while a smile of satisfaction was about to draw across my lips.

Keef just beamed and said, "I know it is."

I shut my lab top and placed it in my book bag. Keef and I then rushed downstairs and headed back to skool. When I arrived, it was 12:00 and we made it into the hallway."Good, its lunch time and the media crew are probably working now, so I still have a chance of retrieving that tape," I whispered to the peppy kid. Just then, my thoughts were interrupted by footsteps and they were drawing near.

"Uh oh, I warned Keef. I turned to him to give him the command. "Keef, quickly, hide!"

We then decided to make a break for it before anyone could notice and we hid against a thin wall. As the footsteps got closer, I peered out and saw a female teacher walking by, carrying files and then I turned back to Keef.

"The coast is clear," I informed him. So, we hurriedly made our way to the stairs speeding in a blur all the way up to the second floor. When we made it, we searched for room 204 which was the Media Room. But, we only approached the outside. Keef and I heard footsteps again and we hid behind another wall, as students began walking by, hoping that they wouldn't spot us. One of the students narrowed his eyes and shifted them around to see if he saw anything. He then faced his friends and I heard them whispering to one another.

"Hey, did you guys hear something?" The kid looked around, still not sure if it was nothing.

"No," one of his friends told him, not really paying much attention. "It was probably just the breeze from the air conditioner."

The boy just shrugged. "Okay, if you insist." He turned back toward his destination and began walking again.

Normal POV

Professor Membrane made his entrance through the door, cupping a ton of clothing as he was shutting it behind him. He was actually home early, this time, so he could prepare dinner for Gaz and Dib when they got home from school. However, Professor Membrane couldn't stay very long because he had an important business meeting with the new chairman.

"I guess I'll just leave Dib and Gaz a note before I leave," he said a loud to himself.

He placed the plastic wrapped clothing on the couch, grabbed a pen and a scrap sheet of paper and started writing the letter. After he was finished writing the letter, the professor gathered the clothing which were tuxedos and he hurried up the stairs, with some of the plastic still dragging on the floor behind him.

When he got to his room, Professor Membrane unwrapped the plastic and it revealed a navy blue tuxedo. He pressed it against him to see if it would fit him. He then removed the hanger off of it and the tuxedo turned out to be a two pieced wear. The top was a buttoned shirt, with a matching tie hanging inside and the bottom was matching bellbottoms that reached at sock level. Professor Membrane set the pants down on the bed, so he wouldn't have too much to handle and was about to undo his shirt when he heard the doorbell ring. He rushed downstairs and answered the door to see Professor Cranium standing, dressed up in a black tuxedo.

"Are you ready to go yet?" His tone sounded impatient.

Membrane just turned his head and then back to face his now worker. "No, not yet. It's going to be a little while longer. I think at this rate, you should just go without me and I'll get there myself. I know the way, anyway."

Cranium just shrugged indifferently and did not think of putting up an argument. "Okay, then; take your time." He left and shut the door behind him as a courtesy to his stressed out friend.

Dib's POV

When all three of the students made their way into the room, I motioned Keef to follow me and we tiptoed into the room quietly. I shut the door behind me slowly, not making any noise or sudden movements to make them notice me. I noticed an empty table with a free computer and a comfortable chair. In between that was an open space so, I grabbed Keef by the hand, continued to make our way as silently as possible towards the table and we hid under the open space. As we hid ourselves under the table, the three boys began to get into conversation.

"Where's that repair man?" One of them asked, becoming worried.

"Don't worry, he'll show up. I called him this morning. He's probably running a few minutes late," the leader reassured his friend.

"Well, he better come soon. This has been going on too long and I'm tired of trying to fix the television myself without having a single idea of what I'm doing."

"Would you relax? He'll be here; you just have to be patient."

The kid just grumbled and sat back in his chair. It turns out though, that the chair was had a sparse distance between the table that Keef I were hiding in, so the space grew tighter. I backed up a little, trying to avoid his huge feet clamping down on my hand and having difficulty breathing due to the lack of space we were about to get. Keef and I heard footsteps for the third time but this time; it was a man walking through the door. He had large black boots on, carrying a tool belt and wearing a uniform that looked similar to the skool's janitors'.

"He must be the repair man," I assumed.

Keef just rolled his eyes and shot me a look. "Well, duh."

I looked straight ahead to see the repair man approach the students. "So, what's the problem?"

The students explained and he nodded in understanding. "Okay, I think I could fix it. But, it's going to take some time. So, I suggest that you boys step outside of the room for a while, while I stop this fluctuating."

The students agreed and they left the room, leaving only me and Keef. It was the perfect time to check on the Swollen Eyeballs. I cracked open the cover and I logged on into the website. "Still no response," I muttered as I closed it again.

Keef poked his head out and saw the repair man studying the TV. "Dib? How are we going to get out of here?" His expression stated the obvious. We were trapped and it was going to be tough to get out without anyone noticing.

"Um, uh… Don't worry, Keef. We'll be out of here soon," I tried to lighten the mood. "I think…"

After finishing another boring lecture, Mrs. Bitters just turned to her students. They looked droned and exhausted from the skool day and they all just felt like heading home. After about five minutes, Melvin raised his hand. Since she had nothing better to do, Mrs. Bitters decide to call on the doomed child.

"Yes, Melvin; what is it? I don't have all day," she muttered that last part under her breath.

"Can I go to the bathroom?"

"Yeah, sure. But take a hall pass."

The teacher turned around and handed Melvin a heavy piece of metal and the poor doomed student dragged it along as he made his way to his destination.

I looked to Keef, having a look of concern. I poked my head out once more to see the mechanic was still fixing the television set. He seemed distracted enough, so Keef and I tried to make a break for it. What we didn't expect was the electricity flowing from the television set. The fairly dimwitted man was carrying a water bottle, while repairing the broken piece of junk. The part when he spotted Keef and I in sight startled him so much that he nearly choked on the water he was drinking and spilled water on the wire which made the electricity in the TV set flutter out of control and the electrical currents barely reached us, but we dodged it in just a matter of time. When the repair man turned around, he saw the both of us scrambled, lying on the ground, defenseless.

Mrs.Bitters just sunk back in her chair, resting both hands on her face, with a smug expression on her face. Just as the day couldn't get duller for her, a voice on the intercom came on…

_Mrs. Bitters, please report to room 204._

The teacher just shoved the desk out of her way and made her way up. She sighed in annoyance and stormed down to room 204.

Normal POV

Professor Membrane by this time found a tuxedo that he was going to wear at the business meeting. Feeling satisfied enough, he smiled and placed his tuxedo on the bed, indicating that that would be what he was going to wear. Just before he could make another slight movement, the telephone rang. He answered it and was shocked by what he heard.

Dib's POV

The mechanic had set us down on two separate chairs, furious by our actions and asking us several questions.

"What were you two doing here? You realize that you were almost killed, right? It's dangerous to be near an electrical object when it is getting repaired and I thought that kids your age understood that?"

When it possibly couldn't get any worse, I immediately caught sight of dad and Mrs. Bitters walking in. My eyes widened like I could have gotten into any more trouble.

"I just got a call from your teacher, Dib. She said that you two snuck in here when you weren't even supposed to be here," dad told me coldly.

My eyes widened again. I never knew that my dad could be this harsh. Usually, he was very cheerful and he referred to me as son. But judging by that tone of voice, I knew from that very minute that something was wrong. Mrs. Bitters just turned to me and growled.

"Sick? Yeah right. As soon as I heard that, I just came here!" She slithered closer to me with an eerie expression. "Did you honestly believe that you were going to get away with it, Dib? Sneaking in here, pretending to be absent the entire day? You demented, doomed child; I almost have pity over you." She turned to Keef and changed her tone. "Thanks for the tip."

What? My eyes just widened in shock. Did I just discover it, right? Keef double crossed me? How could I be so naïve and stupid to believe someone as demented as him? If anything, I deserved what was coming to me. I just shook my head defeated. I then poked my head to see Zim standing in front of the entrance; he just shook my head and I got the feeling that he wanted to be as far away as possible at this point, so he just left. I jumped out of my chair and I tried to catch up with him. When I finally caught up with him, feeling out of breath; I tapped him on the shoulder, feeling desperate to get his attention.

"Zim. I didn't intend for this to happen."

"Save it, Dib-worm. Just don't talk to me.

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	4. Chapter 4: Gossip Madness

Chapter 4: Gossip Madness

**Chapter 4: Gossip Madness**

It's been three days since the _incident_ and by this time, it was safe to say that Zim was on my case. Still feeling guilty about the whole situation, I didn't consume enough rest in those past three days. Still worrying and concerning myself on what Zim was planning to do to me evolved into a cold, icy feeling that crept its way into my nerves which provided me shivers and shudders every time I thought about it. Just to clarify on all of this; I was having a bad week.

I sat up in bed and remained still for quite some time. It was a sunny Monday morning and I felt dazed. Despite the typical yawning and scratching of morning itches that I had every so often, I just remained perfectly still. It was fortunate for me however that I did wake up earlier than I usually do. However, it was due to the fact that I was up the entire night and didn't even feel the least bit sleepy, no matter how late it was. Therefore, I couldn't exactly consider myself lucky because of the wrath that I had to face at skool today. I finally forced myself to snap out of my own trance and get myself ready, anyway; preparing myself for what I had coming today.

I made my downstairs, taking the smallest of steps, still exhausted and drained as I was slowly approaching the kitchen. I was aware at the fact that dad was still upset with me on what happened and as punishment, I was grounded. I couldn't use the phone, the computer and I couldn't go out of the house, unless if it was only for skool. Also, on top of that, I had to do some extra chores around the house to help me think about my mistakes. I grabbed a piece of toast and applied layers and layers of butter on it messily and carelessly, not analyzing on the mess that I was producing or the amount that I was putting on. I just chewed the piece of toast, taking each bite slowly and savoring the salty flavor of the butter that was sloshing on the inside of my mouth. When I finished breakfast, I grabbed my knapsack from the high chair and I made my way out the door, walking to school and taking gradual steps on each block of the cold, cemented ground; not feeling too thrilled about how my day was going to turn out once I made it into the building.

After several dreadful moments, I made it into the building, feeling fear crawl up me like a spider, causing me to shudder once more. I rushed the rest of the way to Mrs. Bitters' class, feeling too much suspense on what was going to go down today and since I took my time on walking to skool, I was now fifteen minutes late.

"You're late again, Dib; sit down!" The teacher barked at me and ordered me to take my original spot.

I just sat there, twiddling my thumbs as I looked over at Zim; shooting him an apologetic look. Zim just shot me a glare and turned away.

I just sank down, feeling the guilt spread all over me in such a sickening matter. I then decided to call it a day on trying to make the truce with Zim and I turned back to face Mrs. Bitters.

"Class, I have another horrible and gruesome announcement," she shuddered eerily. "I'm sad to inform you that the television in room 204 is still destroyed and will not be showing the tape thanks to a certain student in this class that will be doomed for all eternity."

The students just looked over to me; all of them shooting death glares and dirty looks upon my direction. Some of the students had the nerve to shake their heads and give me a 'what's you problem' look. Seeing as this wasn't helping my situation in the slightest, I just sank down in my chair, feeling sorry for myself and feeling that it was completely hopeless to change everything at this point.

Bitters just continued, ignoring all of the abuse that the students were giving me. "So instead, the tape will be shown at the school assembly."

I just sat up in my chair when I heard this. "What?!"

"So, all of you line up in an orderly fashion as we make our way down to the gym and while your at it… I don't to hear a single peep out of you! Do you got that?!" She snarled and snorted at the doomed children.

Intimidated enough, but still growing tired of the whole 'scary teacher' routine, the students just replied simply. "Yes, Mrs. Bitters."

All of the students rushed over and they all formed a line near the entrance/exit of the classroom; chatting and text messaging one another and just spreading plain, old news.

As we were all escorted out of the classroom, making our way down to the gym and following Mrs. Bitters. I was just sweating and panting as my heart was beating more rapidly as we inched closer and closer to they gym. When we finally got there, everybody took a seat and as I sat down in my own chair, shaking and fidgeting; I quickly looked over to over kids; calmly chatting, laughing and having a good time. I was constantly pivoting my body around the room, focusing my attention on each group of kids at each corner of the room, envying them and wishing that I was feeling what they were feeling just now.

The lights finally dim and a spotlight comes on as two students entered the stage. "Good morning, students," one of them tapped the microphone. "Today, we have a special presentation for you all and it would be greatly appreciated if you all sat patiently through the entire thing as courtesy. That means no talking, no use of any electronics or any other communication throughout the presentation. Your silence is greatly appreciated and we hope that you all enjoy this special presentation, thank you."

The students exit the stage and the spotlight disappears. A huge screen comes down and the beam, from the light of the projector ricochets off of it, giving the screen a nice glimmer. As a student near me inserts the tape, the light from the projector balances on my face, blinding me as it flashes in my retinas. The video finally comes on, dimming the projector light and making it easier for me to adjust to it. On the screen, it shows a black and white countdown from five. As it reaches closer and closer, I begin to feel more of a tensing feeling in my stomach and clenching my intestines tighter and tighter. When the countdown finally disappears, the tape comes on; portraying it as a narrative. A student appears on the screen and starts talking about the school.

"Hello, my name is Jermaine. Many of you here in this skool may know me, Many of you have seen me in the halls or had had me in some of your classes but, let's just cut to the chase. Today, I want to discuss about our skool. I would like to spend the next half hour telling you about what our skool is like; so sit tight because this is going to be very exciting and you would not like to miss it. Okay, so many of you know Dib Membrane. Well, just a few days ago, he's been going around asking our students a number of questions and these students have been feeling free in expressing themselves in what they think of our skool. Some answers were shocking; some that you wouldn't expect from some of our peers especially since, most of you already know them. Okay, so some of these answers were unbelievable and even though we should respect student confidentiality at this skool, we are going to reveal some of these answers today. However, some of these interviews did not just take place in our skool, but also at a special event that happened at Dib's house. It appears that Dib's family was throwing a barbecue and Dib decided to carry on his interview in a different location. He got to speak with several of his guests but also the new student who recently came to our skool and we would like to reveal some of his opinions to you. However, that is just going to have to wait. Right now, we would like to take a closer look on what Dib said to some of our students."

I then see the screen show myself with several other students. _"What is your most prized possession?"_

Jermaine continued from there. "Some of these answers were shocking…"

"_Well, I would say that my most prized possession is my stuffed rabbit. He always keeps me calm whenever I finish a game,"_ I heard Craig respond on the tape. Craig just shot me a glare and I sank from my chair; pulled a book over my face as I hid myself.

Jermaine continued again… "Some answers were just plain random…"

"_I like shoes,"_ I then heard Willy say in the video. I just turned to Willy who giggled insanely.

"However, some answers…" The student sighed dramatically. "Let's just say that some answers were just out of this world."

"_I happen to value everything that is Zim."_ I finally heard Zim's voice. _"I have no possession that you speak of. I just treasure my ingeniousness and my superiority of this planet-"_ It was cut from there.

Jermaine then appeared on the screen again. "Who is Zim? What is he? Where did he come from? Since we weren't exactly sure of the outcome from one question, we decided to gather more information.

"_So, tell me about your family," _I heard my own voice for the second time on the screen.

The students took note of the tone in Zim's voice by his response on screen. _"Well, the truth is… I don't really have a family. All of my life, I've been wondering on who my biological parents were and who I was related to." He then realized the softness in his voice and cleared his throat quickly. "Um… Uh, well I'm not going to go into too much detail but…" He then trailed off._

"_Where were you born?"_

"… _Could I get back to you on that?"_

The screen went black and Jermaine made his third appearance. "Zim: A lonely soul? Or, an evil alien? The only way that we could find out the true meaning of all this is on tonight's episode of Mysterious Mysteries."

People just stared up in the screen in awe; all of them believing that a real alien could actually be at their skool, right in front of them.

"I'm Jermaine and thank you for watching."

At the end of the presentation, the screen flew up and the lights came on. People got up from their seats and headed back to their classes. As I was making my way back to class, I saw Zim standing in front of me with anger on his face. "So, this was your idea? I should have known. You may have figured out my ingenious idea for blending in on this pitiful dirt ball of a planet but watch your back, Dib. You have jeopardized my mission, but one day, vengeance will be mine." He just walked away after that.

All of the students from the gym otherwise, were making their way back to their classes, to see what their teacher had in store for them next. By the time I made it back to homeroom, there was only fifteen minutes left until the day was over. So, seeing that it was pointless to teach a lesson, Mrs. Bitters just dismissed everybody early. The students jumped out of their chairs and they all rushed to get home like something exciting was waiting for them there. I waited patiently for the exit of the classroom to be free and spacious enough to let myself through. I walked slowly out of the doorway with my head resting downward; not looking at any of the students who paid any attention to me; not to glance up even once to notice a teacher giving me dirty looks for what I was doing. I just continued on my way home, without even thinking. Once when I was outside the building, I felt an unexpected amount of heat from the sun's rays hit my shoulder; warming up my back and fairly blinding me. Otherwise, I was just feeling careless of what was happening at this point. I decided to take the long route home; no bus, no driving; no one there standing on the pavement or sitting on the benches. There were no conversations going on around me or any signs of vehicles just driving by. It was just me; only me and no one else. It was quiet…

By the time I reached my house, my feet were completely numb from all the walking and my shoulders ached. Feeling even more exhausted and drained than I was before; I couldn't imagine how much worse this day could get. I pulled the house key out of my pocket and I turned the knob with it as the door was slowly beginning to unlock itself. When I got inside the house, I noticed something strange; nobody was in sight. I dropped my book bag and began searching for my family. I looked upstairs, downstairs, in the den, in the basement but still no one. No even Gaz was home. I tried the kitchen to see if anyone was home but instead, I didn't see anyone that I knew. The only thing that I did see though were several groups of people, holding lengthily cameras that had the clearest of lenses and they were actually browsing through the house. My eyes flung wide open as soon as my eyes came into contact with this scene. Feeling a little nervous and not being aware of what was happening, exactly; I approached the camera crew with a bit of doubt inside myself. I tapped one of the members, who appeared to be a female at least from the back, trying to get her attention. "Excuse me?" I responded somewhat quietly.

Seeing as the woman had taken the hint of my feelings at this point; she felt generous enough to turn around to face me. She wore a friendly smile on her face; as she set the camera down on the kitchen table to devote me with her full attention. "Yes, can I help you with something?"

I narrowed my eyes rapidly, staring down at the floor, feeling a bit uncomfortable. I paused for a moment and at last, I developed the courage gaze right up at her. "Yes, actually… I'm sorry to bother you and all but… What's going on here?"

The woman just beamed at me. She felt so excited that bent down closely and placed both hands on my shoulders to calm her nerves. "Well, you see; we saw your tape-"

"My tape? What tape?"

"That interview of yours; we came over as soon as we could to tell you. You must be the interviewer. Hi, I'm Josephine and like I was just saying now; your tape was an inspiration to us. But not just among us; your tape is actually huge hit amongst millions and millions of people and we just came over here to congratulate you. You must be very proud of yourself."

"Well, yes but… There's got to be some kind of mistake. That tape was only intended to be private. I didn't really want anyone else to see it. It was just a project that I had to do for skool for someone and the tape just accidentally got into the wrong hands. Anyway, I'm sorry for the misunderstanding."

Josephine just looked at me and chuckled. She placed her hands on my shoulders again and just smiled. "Misunderstanding? There was misunderstanding."

"Huh?"

"Yeah, you actually did the right thing."

"The right thing?" I just paused. I then continued slowly to see if I got this right. "How did I do the right thing?"

"By pointing out that that little green kid really is an alien."

I just breathed nervously. "No, please; let me explain… That was just a little theory that I made up for the project." I lied.

I just saw Josephine shaking her hand, seeing as that was not going to fly. "That didn't seem to be just a minor project to me. It seemed to me that you were seeking out the truth and you got it. In fact, you should be happy that you did; you let us know that UFO's really do exist and for that, you should get a lot of credit for it."

Now, I was just pleading for this to stop. "No, please. You must listen to me; it was all a mistake; a grievous error. I-I didn't intend for this to happen."

"I know you; it was some strange twist that you didn't expect to happen, right?"

"Yes, that's it," I now thought that there was hope.

"Okay, I understand."

"Sooo… You'll stop?" I asked abruptly.

The friendly woman just looked to her crew who all wore huge, friendly smiles and back at me. "Yeah, we'll stop.

"Great," I beamed. "Thank you so much. I really appreciate it."

"No problem," she told me.

Just then, we heard a car pull in and the door was unlocked. We then heard foot steps edging by and it was dad; holding a spare of keys in his hand when he stopped deadly in his tracks to see what the commotion was about.

Dad slowly approached me, looking around the room to see several people, feeling uncomfortable. "Uh, son; what's going on here?" He asked me quietly, making sure that no one heard.

I just edged back a bit, feeling a little embarrassed. I turned my dad around to get him acquainted with the camera crew. "Uh, dad… This… This is Josephine," I pointed to her weakly for my dad to see. I then continued. "Josephine is actually a member of the camera crew that you hired on Thursday, don't you remember?"

"I-I remember," dad nodded slowly as he lost track with some of his wording. "Well, it's very nice to meet you. I'm Dib's father and um… With all do respect… Why are you here, exactly?"

"Well, funny story, actually-"

Josephine was interrupted by a ring tone which was her cell phone. "Sorry, but I think I must take this." She pulled her phone out of her pocket. "Hello? Yes, I was just telling him…" Her voice became muffled as she left the room for a couple of minutes. Dad thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to pop the question.

He bent down and spoke to me quietly. "Dib, what's going on here?"

"It's okay, dad. It's all fine, now," I reassured him as I waved a dismissive hand.

"Are you sure, son because-?"

"Well, sorry about that," Josephine had re-entered the room. "That was just a business call that I had to take. So, anyway; we have to leave now and we'll keep in touch."

"Keep in touch"? Dad questioned with a confused look.

"Yep. Here's my card and in case of a change of plans; you could just call me."

"Don't worry, dad. Josephine understands." I jumped right in. "I spoke to her when you weren't home."

"Yeah," she added, reassuring dad. "It's all fine and just to say that there are no hard feelings; I apologize sincerely and I'll make sure that this won't happen again."

Dad still felt a bit nervous. "Well… Okay, then. It was nice meeting you again and again; we are sorry for the misunderstanding."

"You're forgiven," she joked. With that taken care of, dad and I watched Josephine and the rest of the crew closed the door behind them as they made their exit out of the house.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

I just sat on the couch, flipping through channels since nothing good was on. I was feeling almost desperate for someone to come and accompany me. Keeping my hopes up that it would happen, as I heard footsteps in the hallway; I turned around immediately to whoever it was, so I could start a conversation with them. I saw that the shadow creeping upon the hallway was none other than Gaz; having her eyes glued to the screen of her Game Slave.

"Hey, Gaz?"

Gaz shriveled up in annoyance once she heard the sound of my voice. The sound of her head creaking in my direction scared me a bit, so I regretted on trying to talk to her in the first place. "What do you want, Dib?" she replied rudely to me.

"… Nothing, just go on."

Gaz just shrugged and left the room with her attention still focused on the game. I turned back to the television, continuing to flip through channels, hoping that something good was on. As I was in the middle of flickering through almost every station, something immediately put my channel surfing process to a halt. This prevented me to surf anymore as I placed the remote down slowly and steadily; not believing what I was viewing right now. It was the Late Night News, except what did shock me was what was on it. It showed what happened in the afternoon and Josephine was the anchor woman illustrating the story. I had my eyes glued onto the screen as I watched on how betrayed I was for the second time.

"_Tonight's story: Zim the alien…_

_It all started when a young preteen by the name of Dib Membrane has interviewed a new student at his skool that goes by the name of Zim and Zim has revealed some interesting things that I think you should all tune in for. There is just one thing that intrigues us all to this exciting cliffhanger. Apparently, Zim practically spelled it out for us that he is indeed an alien. However, we could only believe such a thing in theory and time will tell when the truth will unravel itself. So, only one question remains: Is Zim really an alien? Tune in next Tuesday for the update. I'm Josephine Platter and you're watching Late Night News. Good night."_

I picked up the remote and grumbled as I switched to another channel. _"Did any of you watch that tape with that alien? Boy, was that ever-"_

I switched the channel again. _"Zim, yes Zim the alien-"_

"_How many people could say that they've had an experience with living with an abnormal creature-?"_

Frustrated, I changed the channel once more. _"Breaking __News:--_

I didn't even bother to remain on this channel, expecting exactly what was about to happen next. I just sank down on the couch, feeling depressed. I just had to admit it once and for all that it was no use running away. This stuff about Zim was all over the news and I couldn't stop it. Sure, I had my theory as an individual that Zim was no human. But, I didn't think that the outcome was going to be so brutal.

The next morning; I woke up. Stretching and yawning as my eyes darted around the room. I got myself out of bed quicker this time as I made my way over to the closet. Flipping through hangers, I picked out the usual black trench coat and sweat pants get up. As I went downstairs, facing another typical morning; I was mobbed by a group of people and camera flashes were blinding me as I couldn't believe what was going on.

"Dib, is it true that you came into contact with the alien?" Someone shouted while holding out a microphone in front of me.

"What?" I asked feeling dazed.

"Dib, have you ever searched for other live forms in your past time?" Another one immediately asked before I could say another word.

"No! None of these things happened. Zim is not alien and I couldn't care less about search for other life forms," I shouted, defending Zim.

"We've heard that you have contacted the Swollen Eyeball Network. What tasks were you given?"

"What?" How did they know about the Swollen Eyeballs? And, how did they know that I communicate with them online? Were they spying on me or something?

"Ummm… I possess no knowledge over the Swollen Eyeball Network. In fact, I don't even know who/what the Swollen Eyeball Network is/are," I lied again.

I pushed my way through the crowd, trying to avoid falling down the stairs due to the fact that I couldn't even see the stairs. When I nearly made it to the kitchen, I noticed something strange…

I'm going to cut the chapter there. Please Review.


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